10 Strategies for Better Sleep

Sleep is a fundamental aspect of our well-being. Getting enough of it affects both our physical and mental health. However, for many people, achieving a good night’s sleep can be elusive. The demands of our modern, fast-paced lifestyles often make it difficult to relax and unwind before bedtime. If you find yourself struggling to get the rest you need, these ten strategies for better sleep can help you improve the quality of your sleep and wake up feeling more refreshed.

Nutrition Strategies for Better Sleep

Improving your nutrition in anyway can have positive effects on the quality of sleep you get. But these 5 strategies seem to linger on the top of that list of improvements.

#1: Drink Caffeine-Free After Noon

Caffeine is a stimulant. Duh, that’s why most of us drink it. But if you’re slurping down multiple coffees and sipping into the afternoon, chances are you’re doing you energy more harm than good. You don’t need more caffeine. You need high quality sleep.

Most people feel the effects of a cup of coffee within 15 minutes. Levels peak about an hour later and stay elevated for a couple of hours. The average half life for caffeine (for adults) is 5-6 hours. That means that 5 hours after you take your last sip, half of the caffeine is still in your body. For some people, caffeine doesn’t clear the system entirely for up to 10-12 hours after their last cup!

For higher quality sleep, skip the afternoon java or if you have to, make it a decaf. You might even recognize that you’re waylaying other negative side effects, too, such as headaches, jitteriness and hormonal balance.

#2: Avoid Alcohol 3-4 Hours Before Bed

At surface level, it might seem like a drink or two helps you feel asleep faster. But the reality is that alcohol reduces both the overall number of hours you spend asleep, and the quality of those asleep hours.

When you consume alcohol, it is absorbed into your bloodstream and then metabolized by the enzymes in your liver. This process can be slow, leaving alcohol circulating in your body. This has an impact on everything from:

• sleep quality
• the amount of overall sleep you get
• the number of hours in REM sleep (alcohol reduces the time spent in REM but makes the hours you do spend in REM more disruptive)
• symptoms of sleep apnea

#3: Eat Your Last Meal Earlier

Avoiding large meals close to bed time may improve sleep quality. You see, digestion is a process. Absorption is a process. Both processes take time and energy. Eating too close to bedtime can cause indigestion, gastrointestinal reflux/acid reflux or heartburn, none of which improve your ability to sleep.

Plus, eating a large meal right before bed can extend the time it takes to fall asleep and cause you to wake up in the middle of the night. This is because as your body digests and absorbs, your blood sugar and your body temperature fluctuate.

Keep in mind that if you currently eat fairly late, making a massive change to meal timing might feel super disruptive, and isn’t actually the healthiest way to make a change, either. You see, your body actually likes to eat on a schedule. In fact, it secretes digestive enzymes before mealtimes – if you’re regular with them.

So instead of making a massive and abrupt shift, try shifting dinner forward by 30-60 minutes over the course of a week. You can continue making incremental adjustments like this to improve sleep or, try the next strategy…

#4: ‘Eat Dinner Like a Pauper’

Have you ever heard the phrase: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper“? It’s pretty good advice, albeit outdated and maybe a bit politically incorrect.

Eating a small meal closer to bedtime means that the time you do have to adjust might be enough to avoid the uncomfortable symptoms listed above. Eating your smallest meal for dinner can reduce discomfort, help you fall asleep faster and wake up less frequently during the night.

Plus, you get bonus energy earlier in the day. It makes complete physiological sense to make breakfast your biggest meal, when you’ve get the entire busy day ahead of you to utilize that energy!

#5: Replace Highly Processed Foods With a Minimally Processed Variation

A growing amount of research is showing that eating a diet of highly processed foods has a negative impact on REM sleep. Overall increased consumption of processed sugar and saturated fats seem to reduce this restorative sleep cycle. Meanwhile, eating more fiber and micronutrient-rice foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables have the opposite, more positive effect.

Highly processed foods seem to have an effect on both digestion and hormonal reaction – both of which cause disrupted sleep. If going cold-turkey sounds stressful, start by eliminating processed foods at your last meal. Instead, focus on consuming high-quality, nutrient dense foods.

*Want to put these strategies to work asap? Download the checklist below!

Lifestyle Strategies for Better Sleep

How about for non-nutrition strategies?

#6: Establish a Consistent Sleep Schedule

Your body relies on it’s circadian rhythm – the internal, 24-hour brain-clock that regulates feelings of alertness and sleepiness, appetite and body temperature – to regulate physiological, mental and hormonal processes. And your circadian rhythm relies on things like light exposure, movement and daily living patterns to do it’s job well. When it comes to strategies for better sleep, this one is intricately woven in.

Keep the same bedtime schedule on both weekdays and weekends to keep your circadian rhythm in check. While it might seem like a good idea to use the weekend to catch up on sleep, it’s actually counter-productive.

Instead, shoot of a consistent 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Try to maintain a tight window of bedtime and waking hours. Your body will actually start to anticipate this schedule and start the physiological and hormonal “wind-down” process that naturally aids sleep.

#7: Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

You know what else helps start that “wind-down” process? Routine. Specifically, a calming nightly routine that signals to your brain that you’re getting close to going to bed.

What to avoid: stimulating activities like intense TV shows, big workouts, scrolling through social media, or answering work emails.

What to include: activities that promote relaxation.

• take a bath
• read a book
• drink chamomile tea
• meditate
• gentle stretching
• shutting off blue light

#8: Optimize Your Sleep Environment

Your sleep environment plays a significant role in the quality of your rest. Make your bedroom your sleep-oasis.

Keep it dark, quiet, and cool. Invest in blackout curtains, earplugs, or a white noise machine if necessary. A comfortable mattress and pillows that provide proper support are also essential for a good night’s sleep. Remove any distractions, such as electronic devices or work-related materials, to help create a space dedicated solely to rest.

#9: Get Lit in the Morning

Morning sunlight exposure plays a crucial role in regulating our sleep-wake cycle and maintaining a balanced circadian rhythm. Soaking up even just a few minutes of natural light when you get up signals to your body that it’s time to wake up and be alert. Just 10-20 minutes can make a monumental impact on your morning routine.

It also helps to regulate melatonin production. Melatonin is the hormone that makes you feel sleepy. Sunlight signals to your brain that you don’t need to produce melatonin. And keeping that consistent evening routine is actually a great way to signal to your body that you do need it, when you need it closer to bedtime.

#10: Regular Exercise Routine

I’m a fitness trainer…you didn’t think you’d get outta here without a reason to exercise, did you?!

Working out is great for your body and mind – and it can also help you get a good night’s sleep. Not only does it help you fall asleep quickly, it improves the quality of that sleep as well. And the relationship is bi-directional. Better sleep improves physical performance, too.

Getting into a regular exercise routine has obvious results. It physically tires your muscular-skeletal system and your central nervous system – making you feel ready for rest. Exercise also alleviates daytime sleepiness which leads to fewer daytime naps and more daytime movement.

And there are indirect benefits as well.

• Moderate to vigorous physical activity can decrease the risk of excessive weight gain, which in turn makes that person less likely to experience symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.
• Regular exercise alleviates symptoms of stress and anxiety which can cause sleep issues.
• Resistance or aerobic training in the morning may stimulate evening melatonin release.
• Gentle stretching in the evening can alleviate stress and stiffness, lower blood pressure and give you some time to wind down.

Putting Sleep Strategies to Work IRL

If you’ve been struggling to get to sleep at night, or to stay asleep, and you’re waking up groggy, this list might feel a bit overwhelming. Keep in mind that you don’t have to check everything off at once. Or ever!

Pick 1-2 strategies that feel doable right now, and work on adopting those into your lifestyle. Experiment to see what works in your life. Feel free to make adjustments and personalizations.

And remember, change doesn’t require perfection. Just progress!